Tess, The Writer, And Tessa, The Musician
by Jillessa Heronstairs
Summary: Tess, an aspiring author, and Tessa, a soon to be professional musician, are identical twins, but they have very different personalities. When they go off to college, at the London Institute, a prestigious University, what happens when they meet two boys, Will Herondale, and Jem Carstairs,  as well as Sophie, Cecily, Gideon, and Gabriel? AU, set in Modern Times. All human.
1. The First Day

**Okay. Once again, I must ask myself. Am I crazy? What the hell am I getting myself into? Starting another story? I have, like...five. and I barely update them anymore, now that school has started. But it's just...this idea I got! And I knew I needed to write something about it!**

**And, special thanks, with all my heart, to SilverJem5, for helping me think up an idea like this, and MortalShadowhunter, for being my truly amazing beta! :) :) :) You guys are too amazing for words, I swear. They were my first two readers of this story, and if you like it, you have got to check out their stories! :)**

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><p><strong><span>Tess, The Writer, Tessa, The Musician<span>**

**The First Day**

Tess's P.O.V.

"Tessa!" I call from the bathroom, and wait for a moment. She comes stumbling into the bathroom a few moments later, still in her pyjamas, and her hair tangled about like an unwelcome weed.

At this moment, we've never looked more different.

"What?" she mumbles, pushing the messy strands out of her face. "It's only six. Our first class doesn't start until eight. Why are you up so early?"

"It's our first day of college!" I exclaim, picking up my brush, and running it through my hair, for what seems to be the fifth time. I can't help it. I'm naturally a nervous wreck.

Tessa rolls her eyes with an exasperated look, but there is a hint of a smile on her face. "What did you want to ask me so much that you had to wake me up?"

"You would have woken up when I went back into the room. It's a downside to dorm rooms." I reply, checking my lip gloss in the mirror. "And I wanted to ask you where you put the eyeliner. I can't find it."

Tessa yawns, and stretches her arms over her head. "It's outside, on the table. Do you want me to get it for you?"

Shaking my head, I smirk a little. "I'll get it. You should wash up and get ready. You look like a mess."

"I just woke up," she points out, but she grabs her face cloth, and begins to soak it in water, to wash her face. I, on the other hand, walk out into the main room, finding the eyeliner right where Tessa had said it was. Using a hand mirror, since she's using the bathroom, I apply it quickly, then go over to the closet.

Throwing the doors open, I am once again amazed at the amount of clothes we have. It's pretty stupid that I still think this way. After all, we have been identical twins for, well, our whole lives...And even though we share the same clothes, buy more than we need, the number of possible outfits that barrage my senses every time I open the door never ceases to amaze me.

As I'm going though our massive and mostly unnecessary clothes, Tessa comes out of the bathroom, looking more like her normal self, though unlike me, her face is devoid of makeup, except for a little mascara and lip gloss.

There had been a time in our lives where we would argue over who was prettier, until we realized that, by calling the other person ugly, we were insulting ourselves as well...So we settled with the fact that being identical is chic and that we were passable when it came to looks...Though I still like to think I'm cooler.

"What are you going to wear?" she asks, coming over to stand by me, and peer into the closet. "Can you hand me those jeans?"

Even though we have almost twenty pairs of jeans, I know exactly which ones she wants, and hand them to her. "I don't know what I want. What do you think?"

Tipping her head to the side, she sits down on one of the beds, and yanks off her pyjama shorts, and pulls the jeans on. "Maybe...the blue sundress you look awesome in? It's really nice outside, and there's hardly any wind."

"You're right. What shirt are you going to wear?" I ask her, turning around to undress, and pull the dress on, over my head.

Tessa stands up, and picks out a flowy pink shirt, and puts it on. "There. How do I look?"

"You look great-" Damn. Does that count as complimenting myself too? "-What time is it now?" Closing the closet, I admire the dress in the mirror, but my reverie is quickly broken when I feel my stomach rumble. "Can we go get breakfast?"

She nods, and I grab my bag from the desk. "Let's go, then."

Walking out, into the hallway, I remember when we came here, a week ago, to the London Institute. It had been hard to find our way around, but we managed, and now, it's like a second home.

I'm majoring in literature, trying to become a writer, and Tessa is majoring in music, planning to become a professional violinist and pianist.

"Tess," she says, glancing at me from the corner of her eye. "I feel like we've been here awile, but we haven't met anyone yet."

"I feel like that too. Don't worry, though. I'm sure we will make friends in our classes." Making our way into the dining hall, it's not as packed as I thought it would be, but then again, the London Institute is a much smaller university than most. It's quite a prestigious one, too.

We grab plates, and serve ourselves food, then sit down at a table for four, near the corner of the room. It's pretty quiet in here, but there is still the low rumble of chatter around us. Taking a bite if the food, it's decently good, but I can tell it's been sitting out for at least a little while.

Tessa, on the other hand, takes out her schedule. "What classes do we have together, again?"

I know my schedule by heart, so when I look over at her paper, I immediately know. "Not many. Just statistics, and if you count lunch a class."

"Well, that's one out of four," she points out, folding the paper back up, and tucking it into her pocket. "How's the food?"

"Cold." I laugh, motioning to her plate. "And yours is probably worse."

Picking up a piece of egg, she sticks it into her mouth, makes a face, then chews. "It's fine. I'm not picky, you know."

Suddenly, I hear someone clear their throat behind me. It's a deep voice, so I guess it's a guy. Turning around, I have to look up to see their face. When I do, the first thing I see is a tall, fit, dark haired guy, with striking blue eyes. Next to him, is a more slender, elegant boy, whose skin tone and eye shape are Asian, but his hair and the irises of his eyes are surprisingly silver.

"Umm...Hi..." I greet them instinctively, and Tessa looks up too.

The blue eyed boy motions to the empty seats. "Can we sit here?"

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><p>Will's P.O.V.<p>

Yes, so there were other seats in the dining hall where Jem and I could have sat, but it was a random act of Will's Daily List of Courageous Decisions to go ask them if we could sit with them...Not that I'm usually shy around the female gender, if you know what I mean. It's just...these two seemed different. Which is weird...because they're identical twins.

I let out a sigh of relief when the one I had asked, the one wearing a blue dress, nodded, and I sat down next to her. Jem sits on the other side, next to the girl in the pink shirt.

"So," I say, trying to start conversation at an otherwise silent table. "I'm Will Herondale, and this is Jem Carstairs. What are yours...or do you just want us to call you the identical twins, because I'm fine with that too."

The girl in the dress smiles, her teeth perfectly white and straight. "I'm Tess Gray, and this is my twin sister, Tessa. Don't ask my what our parents were thinking, naming us like this. They were quite stressed, at the time."

Jem laughs, and turns to Tessa, the one in jeans and a pink shirt. "I'm Jem. It's nice to meet you." Then, he does the same to Tess. God, this is kinda confusing... Tess, and Tessa. Who would have thought?

Tessa laughs softly, noticing my expression. "It's a lot easier to tell us apart, one you know us better. Don't worry"

"That's a matter of opinion," Tess replies. "Dad could never tell us apart, even after eighteen years."

"We did try to mess him up, though." Tessa giggles at the thought. "We would dress like each other, and tell him we weren't who he thought we were, even if we were."

Jem glances at me, giving me a half smile. It's obvious that he enjoys listen to them talk, as he is horrible at hiding his emotions most of the time. I, on the other hand..."Are you two freshman?" he asks them, and as they both turn to look at him, he blushes just lightly, a pale pink coming over his cheekbones, and he looks shyly at her with lowered eyes.

Tessa is the one that replies, or, at least, I think it's Tessa. "Yes. Are you?"

"We both are, as well as my sister," I reply for Jem, and he gives me a look of thanks. "She isn't my twin, but she's a little less than a year younger, and in the same grade."

"Maybe you could introduce her to us, sometime?" She suggests, taking a bite of the toasted English muffin on her plate. "That would be fun, don't you think?"

"It would. She's currently over there, with her friend, Sophie," I reply, motioning to the table, where they sit with the Lightwood boys.

"So, what classes are you taking?" Tess asks both Jem and I, but I'm the first to reply.

"I'm taking literature, creative writing, stats, and world history," I say, and her eyes light up.

"I have literature and creative writing, too, as well as stats!" she exclaims, "I bet we're in the same class, don't you think?"

"Literature first, and creative writing, second?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "And stats third, after lunch?"

"Yeah! That's exactly what I have! And you have stats with both Tessa and I." She looks to Jem. "What classes are you taking?"

"I guess I have stats, with you all, and I'm also taking orchestra, music appreciation, and biology," he replies, the blush still apparent on his face.

Tessa's eyes widen, and she stares at Jem, making him shrink back in his chair. "Orchestra and music appreciation? What instrument do you play?"

"I play violin," he admits, and waits for a response from her.

"I play violin, too! This is such a coincidence! I also play piano." Tessa replies, pulling at a lock of her hair.

Jem grins, and looks up at her, though a layer of his pale hair. "I'm sure I will see you in my classes, then. I can't wait."

Suddenly, the bell rings, and students get up to leave, for their first class, but it's only seven. "I don't have a class until eight. What about you two?"

"I don't either," they reply in unison.

"Is it a twin thing to do that? To say things at the same time?" I ask, genuinely wondering.

Tess laughs, and smooths out some wrinkles on her dress, her wavy brown hair falling into her face. "It rarely happens, luckily. I don't think I could stand it, if we said the same thing all the time."

It's interesting to see, how these two girls, who look exactly the same, can be so different. It's obvious that Tess is more outgoing, and Tessa is more reserved, and quiet. More like Jem, I have to say. Even as we continue talking for a while longer, getting to know some things about each other, and discussing what we want to do with our life, I can feel myself get comfortable. The more we converse, it just seems like we click...like we've been friends forever. It's a strange feeling too, seeing as I'm not great at making genuine friends as well as I am making-

The class bell rings suddenly and our conversation halts to a close, all of us rising to our feet. "Well, I guess we are off to literature. I'll see you and Jem later."

Jem and Tessa nod, and begin to walk in the opposite direction-together-to the band room. With a hint of a grin on my mouth, I begin to walk to literature, making sure I'm going just slow enough and looking back at Tess just frequently enough so she knows that I'm waiting for her. And with that, she hurries up to me and smiles-genuinely.

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><p><strong>So...love it? Hate it? Are you totally confused? Leave a review, and let me know what you think, or to ask questions. Also follow, and favorite, please! They give me so much motivation, to hurry up and post again! :)<strong>

**~Jillessa Heronstairs~**


	2. We Are So Similar

**We Are So Similar**

Tessa's P.O.V.

After stopping by the dorm room to grab my book bag and violin, Jem and I make our way across campus to the band room. "How long have you played violin for?"

"I've played since I was very little," he says, looking at me out of the corner of his eye, "My father taught me, as he played himself."

I'm not that much shorter than him, possibly only a few inches, so I don't have to really look up at him that much. "Was he good? I pretty much taught myself, for none of my relatives played."

"He was very good, but he simply didn't have time to play often," Jem explained. "I learned much by myself, but he taught me all the basics."

As we approach the band room, there are a lot of other students entering. He grips his violin nervously, and takes a deep breath. "I'm not...good around crowds. They just...kind of freak me out a little."

Laughing softly, I wait for most of the group to go in, then I take his hand, pulling him through the doorway. "Come on, Jem."

He follows me, and I stop by the table that has the seating list. "Jem! You're concert master!" I exclaim, pointing to his name on the list. "and I'm second first violin! We sit next to each other!"

"Really? That's awesome!" We go and sit down in our spots, and take out our instruments. The teacher, who is also the conductor, goes around, passing out sheet music.

Taking one of the papers, I examine it, reading the title and over the notes. "Hey, I've actually played this before! I think...last year?"

Jem, on the other hand, raises an eyebrow when he sees it. "This is pretty hard. I'm not great at sightreading. You are probably going to have to take the lead, on this piece, since you already know how to play it."

I wave his concerns away, while tightening and rosining my bow. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you will do absolutely fine."

He laughs softly again, setting the music up on the stand so we both can see it. "Can you see it okay?"

"Yeah. It's perfectly fine." I reply, looking around the room.

We're ready to play, but the rest of the class isn't, and I turn back to Jem. "So, about Will. He's a close friend, right?" I ask him, "He seems to have a lot in common with Tess, don't you think?"

"Will's a great guy, and he seemed to really have taken a liking to her. He's usually more...well, to be completely honest...he's usually more rude to others."

Widening my eyes, I say with surprise, "No way! He seems like such a nice person! I can't believe that he would be rude on purpose."

"Oh, I sometimes can't believe it, either. He's really moody, too, so try not to get on his bad side." He looks down a bit, at the violin in his hands, and takes a tuner from his case. Offering it to me, I turn him down, since I'm already in tune. "But he's not...bad. That's a common misunderstanding."

I guess I should better warn Tess about Will later, but as I'm about to say something else to Jem, the conductor steps onto the podium, and orders silence. He's a rather tall, yet broad shouldered man.

Starting to conduct immediately, he doesn't give much room for error, and I do the best I can. Making some mistakes, even though I know this piece well, I try to stay in time, and during the piece, I see how Jem is doing. he's doing well, and I can tell that he's making more mistakes than I, but for reading for the first time, it's very impressive.

As we near the middle of the song, the conductor, cuts us off, and the whole group stops playing. He begins to lecture us to put more emotion into the music, and that right now, our music sounds like "something dead".

Jem gives me a look, and rolls his eyes pointedly at the conductor, when he isn't looking. Smiling, I'm glad that the stand pretty much conceals us, and he doesn't see that we are talking about.

After class, while packing up our instruments, Jem turns to me, a shy smile on his face. "We have music appreciation next, right?"

Nodding, I hand him the sheet music from the stand, and he places it into his folder, and tucks that into his case. Slinging the case over his shoulder, he offers to carry my violin for me, but I turn him down.

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. By the way, you're really really good at playing," I compliment him, then I make a face, changing the subject all of a sudden. "And the teacher...I can't stand him."

"He's a...strict teacher," Jem replies sourly. "But still...he could be nicer."

The music appreciation class is interesting, but taking all the notes doesn't give me any time to talk to Jem, or get to know anyone else in the class. Finally, it's over, and I head to stats, forgetting that he's also I'm that class of mine.

Walking out of the room, I hear him call me name, and turn around, seeing him dash to catch up to me. "You have statistics next, right? With Will and Tess? I think I rememeber you saying that earlier."

"Yeah, I do. Are you in my class?" I ask, and he nods as he follows me on my way to the class, which is in a building at the side of campus.

In the class, I take a seat next to Tess, and Will and Jem sit near us, as well as a brown haired girl, with a deep scar across one cheek, and a black haired, blue eyed girl, who looks like the female version of Will.

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><p>Will's P.O.V.<p>

Walking to literature with Tess, I honestly can't remember the last time I've been so instantly attracted to someone. Not since...I can't even bear to think about it now. There's something about her, that just makes me want to...tell her everything about me. It doesn't hurt that she's extremely pretty, either.

In class, we take seats next to each other, and the teacher introduces himself. After talking about his life for a few minutes, he assigns us the book A Tale Of Two Cities, to read, and do a partner book analysis on.

Tess nudges me. "You want to be partners? I've already read the book before, and have loved it. It will be easy."

This is the time when I would usually turn a girl down, saying that I don't need a partner, and they would only bring my grade down, but there's something about her, that makes me want to show her who I really am.

That I'm not what everyone thinks of me.

"Sure," I reply, and turn to face her. "But how were you able to love the book? I found it boring. And silly. No one chops of their head for love."

She raises an eyebrow, and I wonder if I've struck a nerve. "To each and every one their own opinion, Will Herondale."

No one has ever talked to me like that. Talked to me like they aren't afraid of making me angry. It's refreshing, to be honest.

"Well...' I stutter, blinking at her, and she looks at me expectantly. "Whose opinion do we go with?"

"Mine, of course," she declares, taking the copy of the boom, and pushing it into my hands. "Read it again. I'm sure there was something wrong with you when you read it for the first time. It is not silly. Not at all."

I stare at her in shock. Then, Tatiana's face appears in my mind. The lies, the yelling and screaming. The accusations. None of them were true.

The fact that she had accused me of getting her pregnant.

Taking the book from Tess, I give her a small smile. "Fine. I'll read it again. But only because you told me to."

She grins, and takes another copy of the book, turning to the first page, and begins to start reading. I watch as her eyes scan the lines, and suddenly, she looks up at me, catching me in the act.

"Aren't you going to read?' she asks, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Don't you dare make me get a bad grade on this book analysis."

Laughing, I open the book to the first page, and start to read, but my thoughts start to swirl away. Eventually, they land on Tessa. The way she smiles as she's reading, how even though I just met her, I feel like I can trust her.

The Tatiana shows up. The manipulation. The way she used me. They way she tricked everyone into making them believe she was pregnant, and I was the father of the baby, just for attention and popularity.

"Will. Will." I hear someone call my name, and I look up from the book, realizing I'm still on the first page. It's Tess, and she is looking at me over the top of her book. "The bell rang."

She places her book away into her book bag, and I do the same. Standing up, we head to our next class, creative writing. Once again, the teacher introduces herself, and tells us to get into partners.

Immediately, I look at Tess, silently asking her to be mine. She nods, and the teacher tells us to write what we know about the person , no matter if we've know them for awhile, or just met them.

"What do I know about you, Will?" she asks, scooting over next t me in her desk. "Because I literally met you less than three hours ago."

I laugh. "You know...that my best friend is Jem. And that I have three classes with you?"

She writes this down, and looks at me. "I also know that you consider A Tale Of Two Cities silly, and you have a sister."

Grinning, I give her a thumbs up. "That's all correct. Let's se. What you I know about you? Oh. You have a twin sister, who plays violin, and you had crazy parents that named you basically the same thing."

"What's your sisters name?" she asks, looking up from the paper where she had been writing notes down, in her neat handwriting. Mine, on the other hand, is like doctor handwriting.

"It's Cecily." I tell her, and she writes that down to. "And I know that you probably want to make out with me right now."

She makes a face. "Eww. Why would you think that? I just met you."

"Because that's what any sane girl would think," I joke, playfully slapping her on the arm. "Don't take it seriously. I'm just kidding."

She raises am eyebrow, and writes something down on her paper. "You are very sarcastic," she obseves. "That's something I know about you."

All too soon, the class ends, and we make our way to stats, the class we have with Tessa and Jem, and Sophie and Cecily.

Taking a seat, Sophie and Cecily join us, and finally, Jem and Tessa come into the room together, and sit down next to us.


End file.
